Creating employee training for a large organisation can feel like playing whack-a-mole at the fair. Just when you’ve solved one need for one group, another springs up. Just when you’ve placated one stakeholder another appears out of the blue. You’re sweaty and stressed and it feels like the game will never end! Get it right and you’re rewarded with a big bag of candyfloss and the warm glow of knowing you’ve changed behaviour for the better. But getting there without help can be a real challenge.
Over the years BrightCarbon has developed training for a huge range of organisations, including large, global businesses. We’re whack-a-mole experts! So, today I’m going to share the fun of the fair by looking at some of the common challenges our clients face and exploring potential solutions.
After a few years of disruption, lots phone numbers in iceland of us are enjoying being back in the office more regularly. Despite this around 70% of firms have plans to implement hybrid working arrangements, with employees splitting their time between their home office and the workplace. This will be welcome as flexible work opportunities are a deciding factor for 80% of employees when they’re assessing job offers.
What this boils down to for L&D leaders is that hauling everyone into a classroom for face-to-face training is much more difficult than it used to be and can lead to resentment. Fortunately, though not all face-to-face training can be replaced by online training, a lot of it can. Moving training online makes it much easier and quicker to disseminate information across an organization.
The downside to an online employee training program is that learners can feel more isolated. To increase learners’ engagement think about creating a learning experience – not just an online course or instructor-led session. This experience could include:
A mentor/buddy system – To ensure people feel invested in and supported through the learning process.
Social learning – Using message boards or group chats where learners can discuss the content (or vie with each other for the top spot on the leaderboard!)
Asynchronous training – Adding flexibility in when training takes place means it is less disruptive
Robust follow up – Follow up is really important. We forget most of what we learn, pretty soon after we learn it so one 20 minute module is unlikely to have a huge impact on your learners. However, if you follow that up with a series of microlearnings to top up your learners’ knowledge, plus on the job help, you’ll be getting somewhere.
We’ve written more about running successful virtual instructor led trainings, including post-session materials here: How to run Virtual Instructor-Led Training.